L.A. based artist Marie Sester’s new project, BEAM is a ” spatially interactive installation which displays visuals from a database of American pop culture and offers the visitors control of familiar iconic characters within our increasingly treacherous media environment.” The project “projects video imagery throughout a public space using a robotic projector and employs video game controllers via Max/MSP, Jitter, and OpenGL. BE[AM] seeks to point out the political intoxication and “us versus them” mentality that is gaining prevalence as the lines between entertainment and portrayal of military combat quickly vanish.” Really interesting concept and even cooler that the visuals include… “Charlie Chaplin, Wile E. Coyote, and Super Mario appear in contrast to projections of the American pop landscape: Hollywood productions, TV broadcasts, and video war games. The viewer’s interaction with the superimposed icons creates a critical distance from popular media, providing a space for rethinking of large-scale, long-term cultural forces in reference to the daily lives of individuals.” There are some interesting videos on the site that show how the imagery looks in the installation view.